HEALTH AND SAFETY
PEOPLE FIRST
The Company's safety performance remains at world best standards with a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of less than one lost time injury per million hours worked for the second year running.
Nothing less than Zero Harm for BlueScope Steel.
Steven van der Peet of Western Port Steelworks.
Safety is our number one priority at BlueScope Steel, and we believe nothing less than Zero Harm is acceptable. During the past year, our employees continued to work hard to improve the safety of all our people.
The Company's safety performance remains at world best standards with a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of less than one lost time injury per million hours worked for the second year running. This compares to the International Iron and Steel Institute average LTIFR of around 10.0. The Medically Treated Injury Frequency Rate (MTIFR) also continues to improve, with 30 per cent fewer medically treated injuries reported for the year.
In North America, all businesses continued to show a major improvement in safety. Butler Buildings achieved over five million hours lost time injury free and Vistawall's Terrell site achieved over two million hours lost time injury free, both surpassing previous injury free records. We are very proud of the safety improvements shown by the Butler business as it has worked to adapt BlueScope Steel's safety culture, principles and practices.
Our facilities in Asia continue to set new safety benchmarks. During the year, the Map Ta Phut site in Thailand reached over 17 million hours lost time injury free, and our operations in Indonesia finished the year with a zero LTIFR.
New Zealand Steel set a new lost time injury free record and Port Kembla slabmaking achieved three million hours lost time injury free. Also in Australia, our Logistics business was awarded a National Excellence Award from the Australian Steel Institute for its work on safety at heights. Self Insurance status was maintained in all eligible Australian states.
During the year, 93 per cent of employees in all our global sites participated in 183,700 monthly safety audits. In addition, 24,500 near misses were reported. These measures are a strong indication that our people are focused on staying safe, and on watching out for each other every day.
Despite this progress, regrettably there were two fatalities during the year - in our New Zealand operation and at our Suzhou construction site in China. Our goal is zero, and anything else is simply unacceptable. The Company and all its sites have a clear strategy to work towards Zero Harm and, in particular, to manage critical risks.
We continue our efforts in earnest to learn from all safety incidents and to prevent any reoccurrence. Our strategy of engaging all our people in these endeavours is imperative. We will never let up. Employees, contractors and their families deserve our commitment and vigilance in providing a safe and healthy workplace.
